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DeMaio and Coalition File Initiative to Repeal Gas Tax Hike

San Diego – The statewide campaign to repeal the car and gas tax hikes is now officially underway with the formal filing of a ballot initiative to amend the state Constitution to reverse the tax hikes and strip state politicians of the power to raise car and gas taxes in the future without a vote of the people.

“Sacramento politicians really crossed the line with these massive car and gas tax hikes and we intend to give taxpayers the chance to reverse that decision with this initiative,” said Carl DeMaio, Chairman of Reform California.

During the summer, DeMaio helped spearhead the successful signature drive to collect over 100,000 signatures to force a recall election against the State Senator who was the deciding vote on the car and gas tax hikes. DeMaio is now committing to help finance the collection of signatures for the statewide initiative as well as mobilize grassroots activists across the state.

Backers of the initiative to roll back the car and gas tax hikes need to collect 585,407 signatures of California voters to force the measure on the November 2018 ballot. Reform California has already received pledges from over 200,000 California voters who want to sign the petition once the forms are issued by the state – and many of those have volunteered to get more signatures from neighbors, friends and co-workers. DeMaio is encouraging more voters to sign up at www.StopTheCarTax.org

The average driver will end up paying $300 more in car and gas taxes if the tax hike remains in effect. “Working families are getting hosed at the pump with the gas tax hike and they know it won’t fix our roads as Sacramento politicians always end up diverting the funds to other uses,” DeMaio noted.

The next step in the qualification process is to receive ballot “Title and Summary” from California’s Attorney General. Even though the Attorney General has a dismal record of issuing false and misleading summaries on citizen initiatives they don’t like, DeMaio is confident voters will still vote in favor of the initiative as the issue becomes the defining issue in all California races in 2018.

“Once we qualify this initiative for the ballot, 2018 will be remembered as the year we had another taxpayer revolt in California – where the outrageous car and gas taxes were reversed by voters and the politicians that enacted those tax hikes are punished at the ballot box,” DeMaio concluded.

-On November 1, 2017, Californians became subject to an additional tax of 12.5 cents more per gallon (20 cents more for diesel) at the pump – and hundreds of dollars more per year for their car registration.

-The typical family of four will pay $779.28 more per year because of the gas and car tax hikes. The tax also hits business owners who rely on transporting goods, raising the cost of everything from apples to shipping baby diapers.

-For every $1 on average spent by the other 49 states to maintain a mile of highway, it costs California state bureaucrats $4.7 – a whopping 470% cost inflation due to waste and inefficiency.

-The tax revenue goes into the state’s General Fund, meaning there’s zero guarantee the money will be used to actually fund the transportation “fixes” they claim will happen. In fact, only 20% of the gas tax in recent years has gone to roads projects. Most of the money is diverted to transit, bike lanes, park land acquisition, and general support of the state’s large bureaucracy.